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56-605: The Pershing Square Signature Center is a complex of three Off-Broadway theatres in the Theatre Row section of West 42nd Street in New York City . It is on the first floors of the 43-floor MiMa Building apartment complex. Pershing Square Signature Center is the theatrical home and headquarters of Signature Theatre Company . The individual theaters are also available to rent and have hosted several notable productions. The New Group frequently presents their work at

112-474: A deus ex machina moments before the execution when, in an unrestrained parody of a happy ending, a messenger from the Queen arrives to pardon Macheath and grant him the title of baron. The details of the original 1928 text have often been substantially modified in later productions. A draft narration by Brecht for a concert performance begins: "You are about to hear an opera for beggars. Since this opera

168-568: A II. Dreigroschenfinale ( Second Threepenny Finale – Macheath, Mrs Peachum, Chorus) 17. a Lied von der Unzulänglichkeit menschlichen Strebens (Song of the Insufficiency of Human Struggling – Peachum) 17a. Reminiszenz (Reminiscence) 18. a Salomonsong (Solomon Song – Jenny) 19. a Ruf aus der Gruft (Call from the Grave – Macheath) 20. a Grabschrift (Grave Inscription – Macheath) 20a. Gang zum Galgen (Walk to Gallows – Peachum) 21.

224-447: A III. Dreigroschenfinale (Third Threepenny Finale – Brown, Mrs Peachum, Peachum, Macheath, Polly, Chorus) The ambivalent nature of The Threepenny Opera , derived from an 18th-century ballad opera but conceived in terms of 20th-century musical theatre , has led to discussion as to how it can best be characterised. According to critic and musicologist Hans Keller , the work is "the weightiest possible lowbrow opera for highbrows and

280-489: A Melodram (Melodrama – Macheath) 11a. Polly's Lied (Polly's Song – Polly) 12. a Ballade von der sexuellen Hörigkeit (Ballad of Sexual Dependency – Mrs Peachum) 13. a Zuhälterballade (Pimp's Ballad or Tango Ballad – Jenny, Macheath) 14. a Ballade vom angenehmen Leben (Ballad of the Pleasant Life – Macheath) 15. a Eifersuchtsduett (Jealousy Duet – Lucy, Polly) 15b. Arie der Lucy (Aria of Lucy – Lucy) 16.

336-536: A 1994 documentary. After World War II the first stage performance in Berlin was a rough production of The Threepenny Opera at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm . Wolf Von Eckardt described the 1945 performance where audience members climbed over ruins and passed through a tunnel to reach the open-air auditorium deprived of its ceiling. In addition to the smell of dead bodies trapped beneath the rubble, Eckardt recollects

392-451: A lock compared to buying shares? What's breaking into a bank compared to founding one? What's murdering a man compared to employing one?" (These questions did not appear in the original version of the work, but first appeared in the musical Happy End , another Brecht/Weill/Hauptmann collaboration, in 1929 – they may in fact have been written not by Brecht, but by Hauptmann). Macheath asks everyone for forgiveness ("Grave Inscription"). Then

448-419: A production to launch his new theatre company at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm in Berlin, but was not impressed by the sound of Fleischhacker . Brecht immediately proposed a translation of The Beggar's Opera instead, claiming that he himself had been translating it . He delivered Hauptmann's translation to Aufricht, who immediately signed a contract for it. Brecht proposed Weill to write the music, and spent

504-664: A street intersecting Broadway in Midtown Manhattan 's Theater District , the hub of the American theatre industry. It later became defined by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres and Producers as a professional venue in Manhattan with a seating capacity of at least 100, but not more than 499, or a production that appears in such a venue and adheres to related trade union and other contracts. Previously, regardless of

560-476: A sudden and intentionally comical reversal: Peachum announces that in this opera mercy will prevail over justice and that a messenger on horseback will arrive ("Walk to Gallows"); Brown arrives as that messenger and announces that Macheath has been pardoned by the queen and granted a title, a castle and a pension. The cast then sings the Finale, which ends with a plea that wrongdoing not be punished too harshly as life

616-501: A total of 23 instrumental parts, though modern performances typically use a few more players). The Threepenny Opera was first performed at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm in 1928 on a set designed by Caspar Neher . Despite an initially poor reception, it became a great success, playing 400 times in the next two years. The performance was a springboard for one of the best known interpreters of Brecht and Weill's work, Lotte Lenya , who

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672-478: Is Macheath, alias "Mack the Knife". The story begins in the shop of Jonathan Jeremiah Peachum, the boss of London's beggars, who outfits and trains the beggars in return for a slice of their takings from begging. In the first scene, the extent of Peachum's iniquity is immediately exposed. Filch, a new beggar, is obliged to bribe his way into the profession and agree to pay over to Peachum 50 percent of whatever he made;

728-613: Is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres , but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer than 100. An "off-Broadway production" is a production of a play , musical , or revue that appears in such a venue and adheres to related trade union and other contracts. Some shows that premiere off-Broadway are subsequently produced on Broadway. The term originally referred to any venue, and its productions, on

784-560: Is based on the capacity given for the respective theatre at the Internet Off-Broadway Database . The Threepenny Opera The work offers a socialist critique of the capitalist world. It opened on 31 August 1928 at Berlin's Theater am Schiffbauerdamm . With influences from jazz and German dance music, songs from The Threepenny Opera have been widely covered and become standards , most notably " Die Moritat von Mackie Messer " ("The Ballad of Mack

840-536: Is dragged away to jail. After he sings the "Ballade vom angenehmen Leben" ("Ballad of the Pleasant Life"), another Villon/Ammer song, another girlfriend, Lucy (Brown's daughter) and Polly show up at the same time, setting the stage for a nasty argument that builds to the "Eifersuchtsduett" ("Jealousy Duet"). After Polly leaves, Lucy engineers Macheath's escape. When Mr Peachum finds out, he confronts Brown and threatens him, telling him that he will unleash all of his beggars during Queen Victoria 's coronation parade, ruining

896-602: Is finally convinced that Peachum has enough influence to do it and makes arrangements to leave London, explaining the details of his bandit "business" to Polly so she can manage it in his absence. Before he leaves town, he stops at his favorite brothel, where he sees his ex-lover, Jenny. They sing the "Zuhälterballade" ("Pimp's Ballad", one of the Villon songs translated by Ammer) about their days together, but Macheath doesn't know Mrs Peachum has bribed Jenny to turn him in. Despite Brown's apologies, there's nothing he can do, and Macheath

952-606: Is harsh enough. 1 1. Ouverture 1 2. Die Moritat von Mackie Messer ("The Ballad of Mack the Knife " – Street singer) 1 3. Morgenchoral des Peachum (Peachum's Morning Choral – Peachum, Mrs Peachum) 1 4. Anstatt dass-Song (Instead of Song – Peachum, Mrs Peachum) 1 5. Hochzeits-Lied (Wedding Song – Four Gangsters) 1 6. Seeräuberjenny ( Pirate Jenny – Polly) 1 7. Kanonen-Song (Cannon Song – Macheath, Brown) 1 8. Liebeslied (Love Song – Polly, Macheath) 1 9. Barbarasong (Barbara Song – Polly) 10. I. Dreigroschenfinale (First Threepenny Finale – Polly, Peachum, Mrs Peachum) 11.

1008-451: Is preparing to marry Polly once his gang has stolen and brought all the necessary food and furnishings. No vows are exchanged, but Polly is satisfied, and everyone sits down to a banquet. Since none of the gang members can provide fitting entertainment, Polly gets up and sings " Seeräuberjenny ", a revenge fantasy in which she is a scullery maid turning pirate queen to order the execution of her bosses and customers. The gang becomes nervous when

1064-456: Is the only material Weill borrowed from the melodies Johann Christoph Pepusch arranged for The Beggar's Opera . The title Die Dreigroschenoper was determined only a week before the opening; it had been previously announced as simply The Beggar's Opera (in English), with the subtitle "Die Luden-Oper" ("The Pimp 's Opera"). Writing in 1929, Weill made the political and artistic intents of

1120-406: Is to arrest Macheath and have him executed. In the next scene, Macheath is back in jail and desperately trying to raise a sufficient bribe to get out again, even as the gallows are being assembled. Soon it becomes clear that neither Polly nor the gang members can, or are willing to, raise any money, and Macheath prepares to die. He laments his fate and poses the ' Marxist ' questions: "What's picking

1176-547: The Lucille Lortel Award (created in 1985 by the League of Off-Broadway Theatres & Producers), and the Drama League Award . Although off-Broadway shows are not eligible for Tony Awards , an exception was made in 1956 (before the rules were changed), when Lotte Lenya won Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Musical for the off-Broadway production of The Threepenny Opera . Capacity

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1232-556: The National Recording Registry . It has been named one of the hundred most popular songs of the twentieth century. In 1986, American fast-food chain McDonald's launched an advertising campaign featuring a new mascot " Mac Tonight " loosely based on the lyrics "Mack the Knife" featuring a parody of the song. The advert, which was associated with a 10% increase in later diners in some Californian restaurants at

1288-526: The Nazi seizure of power , the play had been translated into 18 languages and performed more than 10,000 times on European stages. In the United Kingdom, the first fully staged performance was given on 9 February 1956, under Berthold Goldschmidt , although there had been a concert performance in 1933, and a semi-staged performance on 28 July 1938. In between, on 8 February 1935 Edward Clark conducted

1344-558: The Piccolo Teatro in Milan on 27 February 1956 in the presence of Bertolt Brecht. The cast included: Tino Carraro (Mackie), Mario Carotenuto (Peachum), Marina Bonfigli  [ it ] (Polly), Milly (Jenny), Enzo Tarascio  [ it ] (Chief of Police). The conductor was Bruno Maderna . Set designs were by Luciano Damiani and Teo Otto ; costume design by Ezio Frigerio . The first Hungarian performance of

1400-525: The 2024 Adelaide Festival . The Pabst film The Threepenny Opera was shown in its French version in 1931. In 1937 there was a production by Ernst Josef Aufricht  [ de ] at the Théâtre de l'Étoile which failed, though Brecht himself had attended rehearsals. The work was not revived in France until after World War II. In London, West End and Off-West End revivals include: In 2014,

1456-772: The Chief of Police, Tiger Brown, arrives, but it's all part of the act; Brown had served with Mack in England's colonial wars and had intervened on numerous occasions to prevent the arrest of Macheath over the years. The old friends duet in the "Kanonen-Song" ("Cannon Song" or "Army Song"). In the next scene, Polly returns home and defiantly announces that she has married Macheath by singing the "Barbarasong" ("Barbara Song"). She stands fast against her parents' anger, but she inadvertently reveals Brown's connections to Macheath which her parents subsequently use to their advantage. Polly warns Macheath that her father will try to have him arrested. He

1512-571: The Knife ") and " Seeräuberjenny " (" Pirate Jenny "). The Threepenny Opera has been performed in the United Kingdom, the United States, France, Russia, Italy, and Hungary. It has also been adapted to film and radio. The German-language version from 1928 entered the public domain in the US in 2024 . In the winter of 1927–28, Elisabeth Hauptmann , Brecht's lover at the time, received a copy of Gay's play from friends in England and, fascinated by

1568-1135: The Park with George , Rent , Grey Gardens , Urinetown , Avenue Q , The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee , Rock of Ages , In the Heights , Spring Awakening , Next to Normal , Hedwig and the Angry Inch , Fun Home , Hamilton , Dear Evan Hansen , Hadestown , and Kimberly Akimbo . In particular, two that became Broadway hits, Grease and A Chorus Line , encouraged other producers to premiere their shows off-Broadway. Plays that have moved from off-Broadway houses to Broadway include Doubt , I Am My Own Wife , Bridge & Tunnel , The Normal Heart , and Coastal Disturbances . Other productions, such as Stomp , Blue Man Group , Altar Boyz , Perfect Crime , Forbidden Broadway , Nunsense , Naked Boys Singing , Bat Boy: The Musical , and I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change have had runs of many years off-Broadway, never moving to Broadway. The Fantasticks ,

1624-624: The Pershing Square Signature Center. The theatre derives its name from the Pershing Square Foundation , which donated $ 25 million to the theatre. The complex is more than a mile west of Manhattan's Pershing Square , which is also on 42nd Street. In October 2008, Signature announced the building of the Pershing Square Signature Center. Designed by Frank Gehry Architects , the Center comprises

1680-936: The Robert David MacDonald and Jeremy Sams translation (previously used in 1994 at the Donmar Warehouse ) toured the UK, presented by the Graeae Theatre Company with Nottingham Playhouse , New Wolsey Theatre Ipswich, Birmingham Repertory Theatre and West Yorkshire Playhouse . In 1946, four performances of the work were given at the University of Illinois in Urbana , and Northwestern University gave six performances in 1948 in Evanston, Illinois . In 1952, Leonard Bernstein conducted

1736-679: The actors themselves were "haggard, starved, [and] in genuine rags. Many of the actors ... had only just been released from concentration camp. They sang not well, but free." Barrie Kosky produced the work again at the Theater am Schiffbauerdamm in 2021. The production travelled to the Ruhrfestspiele in 2022, the Internationaal Theater Amsterdam , Teatro Argentina , Rome, the Edinburgh International Festival in 2023, and to

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1792-572: The alternative title "The Black Freighter". Recently, the drag queen Sasha Velour has made an adaptation by the same name for an installment of One Dollar Drags, an anthology of short films. Under the title " What Keeps Mankind Alive? ", this number has been recorded by the Pet Shop Boys on the B-side of their 1993 single " Can You Forgive Her? ", and on two albums. Tom Waits covered it on two albums, and William S. Burroughs performed it in

1848-477: The ceremony and costing Brown his job. Jenny comes to the Peachums' shop to demand her money for the betrayal of Macheath, which Mrs Peachum refuses to pay. Jenny reveals that Macheath is at Suky Tawdry's house. When Brown arrives, determined to arrest Peachum and the beggars, he is horrified to learn that the beggars are already in position and only Mr Peachum can stop them. To placate Peachum, Brown's only option

1904-514: The female characters and its critique of the condition of the London poor, began translating it into German. Brecht at first took little interest in her translation project, but in April 1928 he attempted to interest the impresario Ernst Josef Aufricht  [ de ] in a play he was writing called Fleischhacker , which he had, in fact, already promised to another producer. Aufricht was seeking

1960-481: The first British broadcast of the work. It received scathing reviews from Ernest Newman and other critics. But the most savage criticism came from Weill himself, who described it privately as "the worst performance imaginable … the whole thing was completely misunderstood". But his criticisms seem to have been for the concept of the piece as a Germanised version of The Beggar's Opera , rather than for Clark's conducting of it, of which Weill made no mention. America

2016-681: The longest-running musical in theatre history, spent its original 42-year run off-Broadway and had another off-Broadway run from 2006 to 2017. Off-Broadway shows, performers, and creative staff are eligible for the following awards: the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award , the Outer Critics Circle Award , the Drama Desk Award , the Obie Award (presented since 1956 by The Village Voice ),

2072-522: The more earnest traditions of the opera house, Weill created a mixed form which incorporated spoken theatre and popular musical idioms. Parody of operatic convention – of Romantic lyricism and happy endings – constitutes a central device. The work's opening and closing lament, "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer," was written just before the Berlin premiere, when actor Harald Paulsen (Macheath) threatened to quit if his character did not receive an introduction; this creative emergency resulted in what would become

2128-419: The most full-blooded highbrow musical for lowbrows". The Weill authority Stephen Hinton notes that "generic ambiguity is a key to the work's enduring success", and points out the work's deliberate hybrid status: For Weill [ The Threepenny Opera ] was not just 'the most consistent reaction to [Richard] Wagner '; it also marked a positive step towards an operatic reform. By explicitly and implicitly shunning

2184-621: The music but slammed the production, with the critic Gilbert Gabriel calling it "a dreary enigma". A French version produced by Gaston Baty and written by Ninon Steinhof and André Mauprey was presented in October 1930 at the Théâtre Montparnasse in Paris. It was rendered as L'Opéra de quat'sous ; ( quatre sous , or four pennies being the idiomatically equivalent French expression for Threepenny ). In 1930

2240-482: The next four months writing the libretto. Brecht used four songs by the French poet François Villon . Rather than translate the French himself, he used the translations by K. L. Ammer ( Karl Anton Klammer  [ de ] ), the same source he had been using since his earliest plays. The first act of both works begins with the same melody ("Peachum's Morning Chorale"/"An Old Woman Clothed In Gray"), but that

2296-535: The play focuses on Macheath , an amoral antihero who leads a criminal gang, committing robbery, arson, rape and murder. Macheath ("Mackie," or "Mack the Knife") marries Polly Peachum. This displeases her father, who controls the beggars of London, and he endeavours to have Macheath hanged. His attempts are hindered by the fact that the Chief of Police, Tiger Brown, is Macheath's old army comrade. Still, Peachum exerts his influence and eventually gets Macheath arrested and sentenced to hang . Macheath escapes this fate via

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2352-593: The play was at the Comedy Theatre of Budapest (Vígszínház), on 6 September 1930. It was titled A koldus operája , which is a reference to Gay's original opera. The play was translated by Jenő Heltai, who mixed Weill and Pepusch' s music, and also Brecht and Gay's texts too. The director was Ernő Szabolcs, the cast included: Pál Jávor (Mackie), Franciska Gaal (Polly), Gerő Mály (Peachum), Ella Gombaszögi (Mrs. Peachum). Set in Victorian London,

2408-537: The previous day he had been severely beaten up for begging within the area of jurisdiction of Peachum's protection racket. After finishing with the new man, Peachum becomes aware that his grown daughter Polly did not return home the previous night. Peachum, who sees his daughter as his own private property, concludes that she has become involved with Macheath. This does not suit Peachum at all, and he becomes determined to thwart this relationship and destroy Macheath. The scene shifts to an empty stable where Macheath himself

2464-663: The salary requirements of the union for Broadway theatres. The adoption of the 499-seat criterion occurred after a one-day strike in January 1974. Examples of off-Broadway theatres within the Broadway Box are the Laura Pels Theatre and The Theater Center . The off-Broadway movement started in the 1950s as a reaction to the perceived commercialism of Broadway and provided less expensive venues for shows that have employed many future Broadway artists. An early success

2520-506: The size of the venue, a theatre was considered a Broadway (rather than off-Broadway) house if it was within the "Broadway Box", extending from 40th Street north to 54th Street and from Sixth Avenue west to Eighth Avenue , including Times Square and West 42nd Street . This change to the contractual definition of "off-Broadway" benefited theatres satisfying the 499-seat criterion because of the lower minimum required salary for Actors' Equity performers at Off-Broadway theatres as compared with

2576-516: The three theatres, two rehearsal studios, a café and bar, bookstore, and offices all on one level. It opened in 2012. The Irene Diamond Stage has a seating capacity of 294 seats, the Alice Griffin Jewel Box Theatre has a seating capacity of 191 seats and the flexible Romulus Linney Courtyard Theatre has a capacity of 199 to 250, depending on the seating configuration. Off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre

2632-410: The time that "music cannot further the action of the play or create its background", but achieves its proper value when it interrupts the action at the right moments." Weill's score shows the influence of jazz and German dance music of the time. The orchestration involves a small ensemble with a good deal of doubling-up on instruments (in the original performances, for example, some 7 players covered

2688-551: The time, led to a lawsuit by Bobby Darin 's son, Dodd Mitchell Darin. The lawsuit concerned the parody created by McDonald's stated that it was in violation of copyright law . The case was settled outside of court without requiring a court hearing. Following this the mascot was mostly dropped from McDonalds marketing. "Pirate Jenny" is another well-known song from the work, which has since been recorded by Nina Simone , Judy Collins , Tania Tsanaklidou , and Marc Almond , among others. In addition, Steeleye Span recorded it under

2744-457: The time, however, that "Broadway is just as eclectic – and just as footless – as 'Off-Broadway'." Theatre Row , on West 42nd Street between 9th and 10th Avenues in Manhattan, is a concentration of off-Broadway and off-off-Broadway theatres. It was developed in the mid-1970s and modernized in 2002. Many off-Broadway shows have had subsequent runs on Broadway, including such musicals as Hair , Godspell , Little Shop of Horrors , Sunday in

2800-517: The work clear: With the Dreigroschenoper we reach a public which either did not know us at all or thought us incapable of captivating listeners ... Opera was founded as an aristocratic form of art ... If the framework of opera is unable to withstand the impact of the age, then this framework must be destroyed ... In the Dreigroschenoper , reconstruction was possible insofar as here we had a chance of starting from scratch. Weill claimed at

2856-610: The work premiered in Moscow at the Kamerny Theatre , directed by Alexander Tairov . It was the only one of Brecht's works to be performed in Russia during his lifetime. Izvestia disapproved: "It is high time that our theatres ceased playing homage to petit-bourgeois bad taste and instead turned to more relevant themes." The first Italian production, titled L'opera da tre soldi and directed by Giorgio Strehler , premiered at

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2912-474: The work's most popular song, later translated into English by Marc Blitzstein as " Mack the Knife ", and now a jazz standard that Louis Armstrong , Bobby Darin , Ella Fitzgerald , Sonny Rollins , Frank Sinatra , Peggy Lee , Michael Bublé , Robbie Williams and countless others have performed. In 2015, the Library of Congress added the recordings of "Mack the Knife" by Louis Armstrong and Bobby Darin to

2968-524: Was Circle in the Square Theatre 's 1952 production of Summer and Smoke by Tennessee Williams . According to theatre historians Ken Bloom and Frank Vlastnik, off-Broadway offered a new outlet for "poets, playwrights, actors, songwriters, and designers. ... The first great Off-Broadway musical was the 1954 revival" of The Threepenny Opera , which proved that off-Broadway productions could be financially successful. Critic John Gassner argued at

3024-465: Was intended to be as splendid as only beggars can imagine, and yet cheap enough for beggars to be able to watch, it is called the Threepenny Opera ." A street singer entertains the crowd with the illustrated murder ballad or Bänkelsang , titled "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer" ("Ballad of Mack the Knife"). As the song concludes, a well-dressed man leaves the crowd and crosses the stage. This

3080-518: Was introduced to the work by the film version of G. W. Pabst , which opened in New York in 1931. The first American production, adapted into English by Gifford Cochran and Jerrold Krimsky and staged by Francesco von Mendelssohn , featured Robert Chisholm as Macheath. It opened on Broadway at the Empire Theatre , on April 13, 1933, and closed after 12 performances. Mixed reviews praised

3136-619: Was married to Weill. Ironically, the production became a great favourite of Berlin's "smart set" – Count Harry Kessler recorded in his diary meeting at the performance an ambassador and a director of the Dresdner Bank (and their wives), and concluded "One simply has to have been there." Critics did not fail to notice that Brecht had included the four Villon songs translated by Ammer. Brecht responded by saying that he had "a fundamental laxity in questions of literary property." By 1933, when Weill and Brecht were forced to leave Germany by

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